Friday afternoon, one of our Hot Dish contributors, Keane Amdahl, was hanging out at the Spyhouse Coffee on Hennepin Avenue near Uptown when he noticed a Minneapolis police officer trying to roust a man from under an awning at nearby Temple Israel.

But the way the officer handled the situation prompted Amdahl to write a letter of complaint to MPD Chief Janeé Harteau before the evening was through.

In an email, Amdahl says the man, who appeared to be homeless, "was trying get out of the rain by hiding under [the] awning."

"The cop took the man's boot and a crutch and threw it down to the bottom of the stairs," he writes. "He then took the man's backpack, which was attached to a dog, and threw it down the stairs which of course dragged the dog with it halfway down the stairs."

In a followup conversation, Amdahl says that after witnessing the cop toss the man's stuff, he and his friend asked the officer why he did that and who he is.

"When we confronted him and asked him for his information, he tried telling us, 'The guy told us to do that,'" Amdahl says.

We asked Amdahl if the cop, whose badge number he couldn't quite see from where he was standing, was being sarcastic.

"Oh yeah, without question," he replies. "He didn't want to give me any of his information. I don't know what his requirements are on that per se, but yeah, he kinda got all huff and puff about it and tried to be fairly intimidating."

In his email, Amdahl writes, "When I approached the officers [a female cop was also at the scene] and asked for his identification, [the male officer] became hostile and started to make threatening gestures. He said if I had a problem, I should contact the Minneapolis police chief and that he was from the 5th Precinct."

So that's exactly what Amdahl did. He wrote this letter (printed here unedited) to Chief Harteau later Friday evening:

Dear Police Chief Harteau,

I'm writing to file a formal complaint against a police officer who refused to identify himself at a scene that took place outside of the Temple Israel Synagogue just off of 24th Street and Hennepin Ave in Uptown at approximately 5:45pm.

While standing outside the Spyhouse Coffee Shop on Hennepin Ave, I observed the initial responding police officer trying to remove a pair of loiterers from the top of the Temple stairs. After one of the individual loiterers left the premises, the officer started to become more hostile to the second, who was being difficult, but not threatening. My friend and I both witnessed the officer pickup the individuals shoes and a crutch that the man needed to walk, and throw them down to the bottom of the stairs. The officer then picked the mans backpack, which was clearly tied to a dog (something that I could see from half a block away) and also throw it down the stairs thereby dragging the dog with it down several steps. Eventually several other officers arrived at the scene and they helped the man down the stairs and placed him into the back of the truck. While the man was clearly being difficult and in the wrong, the excessive treatment of the original responding officer was unwarranted, overtly aggressive, and certainly unbecoming of an officer of the Minneapolis Police Force.

When I approached the officers and asked for his identification, he became hostile and started to make threatening gestures. He said if I had a problem, I should contact the Minneapolis police chief and that he was from the 5th precinct.

As a concerned Minneapolis citizen, I am formally requesting that this issue be looked into. I would be happy to be of any assistance that I can.

Sincerely,
Keane Amdahl

The MPD hadn't responded to the letter as of yesterday afternoon.

Amdahl says the incident ended with the homeless man being loaded into a squad car and hauled away. We contacted the MPD's public information officers seeking more information, but were told that without a specific case number, which we didn't have, the PD wouldn't be able to comment.

Amdahl's friend took a number of photos of the cops dealing with the homeless man. To see them, click to page two.

You know why stuff like this is becoming more rampant? Because the officers involved never get charged or fired. They always get payed suspension during their pending investigations. This isn't teaching police anything other than that they can get away with anything on duty.

I don't know what kind of training - I am not an expert, but maybe therapeutic anger management? Stress reduction? It is clearly a really hard job that gets up against resistance and fear and danger all the time - it seems like throwing someone's stuff and dog down the stairs is just an inch from throwing someONE down the stairs. And this wouldn't seem humane nor necessary, let alone even greater instances of brutality. As a community, maybe we should be proactive?

Come on Dave do you hate cops that bad or do you want us to live in a lawless land, which will happen if we don't show a little respect.You do not realize what cops go through every day to protect us by putting their own lives at risk

Well we all must continue to be vocal and make changes as this is a disgrace. Reading below there are many people who feel the same with so many other stories, everyone needs to be louder and more active.

I had this posted on another youtube channel , think its around 20,000 views & tons of comments by people, everyone outraged by the behavior of these deputies. Not 1 saying the deputies were doing the right thing.
But yet the sheriff rewarded this behavior , its insane. Only city pages & hastings star have published stories on this & all other news channels wont touch it.

Lol....the system is supposed to mandate that the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt be proven by the state, county, judge, or jury.
A person is not supposed to have to prove their innocence.....but we all know how that goes.

Another important thing to note, as we see here what police in dakota county are wasting their time doing, the very next night a girl was shot on the HWY less than 10mins from where this took place.
The shooter never caught & no police were around patrolling preventing real crime like that... Very sad

Shit in this incidence a judge ruled the deputy violated constitutional rights when the deputy interrogated the drive at gun point while he was being threatened with death however trial is still set for jan & sheriff bellows awarded the deputy "deputy of the month" for his involvement in this incident.
It defies common sense & logic.
http://youtu.be/fYMdBr9QUAE

If his civil rights were violated by an abusive asshole with a badge, then YES. I'm sorry the victim has to be white and well off for you to personally give a shit, but I guess that's more your problem...asshole

@mingtran@MNjoe I'm not your bro, fuckhead. You wouldn't know intelligent if it bit you on the ass. There's a lot more to the article other than "four pics of nothing" but as you have very little reading skills, I can see why you'd make such a stupid comment. In fact, every comment you've ever made is pretty stupid.